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MTSU to limit hours for part-time workers

– When classes resume at Middle Tennessee State University next week, part-time employees will not be eligible to pick up extra on-campus job assignments, according to an email from President Sidney McPhee.

MURFREESBORO – When classes resume at Middle Tennessee State University next week, part-time employees will not be eligible to pick up extra on-campus job assignments, according to an email from President Sidney McPhee.

In an email addressed to the university community Friday afternoon, McPhee said part-time workers, which have traditionally included adjunct faculty, graduate assistants and resident assistants, have been able to "earn additional money by picking up extra assignments — such as an RA working as a hourly student worker."

University part-time employees, those working less than 30 hours per week, do not receive health care benefits.

"However, due to our interpretation of the reporting requirements of ACA, we must take additional steps to determine when an employee would be eligible for benefits. This means that, effective beginning with the fall semester, we will no longer allow part-time employees, or those receiving monthly stipends from the university, to accept multiple work assignments on campus," the email said.

Doing so would result in violations of the Affordable Care Act. Penalties of $2,000 per employee per year would be assessed for each violation, "which could add up as high as $6 million if we were found not to be in compliance," McPhee wrote.

The fall semester begins Monday, Aug. 25.

Students hired as resident assistants can only work in that role as a campus employee, nor can adjunct faculty members be employed as a temporary hourly worker.

Graduate assistant Michael Fletcher said it also means he can't work on research projects that are funded by grants the university receives.

He is working on a Ph.D. in history and also works as a graduate assistant. The job pays $14,000 per year and comes with a 20-hour work week. Many assistants, Flecther said, pick up on-campus grant-funded research jobs.

"What we end up with, essentially, is two contracts from the university. Last spring because of the ACA, the HR department issued a policy that the most we could work is 29 hours, which would be 9 hours above our assistantships. Now they're saying we can't do that any more," Fletcher said.

University spokesman Andrew Oppmann said the measure isn't expected to be a long-term solution.

"Since RAs, GAs and adjuncts are exempt under (the Fair Labor Standards Act), they do not report their hours to us and we must now develop ways of tracking their hours," Oppmann told The Daily News Journal Friday afternoon. "In the eyes of the federal government, you work at MTSU and if you exceed 30 hours, you're eligible for benefits," he added.

The exact number of employees that stand to be impacted is not known. During the 2013-14 school year, the university had approximately 550 graduate assistants, Oppmann said.

"Our first responsibility is to make sure we're following the law," the spokesman said.

In the email, McPhee wrote that the policy puts MTSU in line with other Tennessee Board of Regents schools. The University of Memphis, Motlow College and Southwest State have taken similar measures, Oppmann said.

The matter at hand is not so much of a sob story for others in his shoes, Fletcher said, but one that could stand to have an impact on the university.

"A couple of students I know are leaving because of it. If we don't have anybody to work on these other research projects, we lose the grants," he said. "We've got a nice science building going up that cost $147 million. MTSU is starting to position itself as a research facility. What happens when we don't have anyone to work on the research projects?"

Oppmann responded, "Those are fair questions. In a perfect world we'd like to come up with a solution that satisfies our federal requirements but doesn't impact our students and employees."

Working jobs on campus, especially those tied to research, provides additional flexibility for those working on advanced degrees.

"If I have a paper or a project I need to go that involves my GA job, I can make up the research hours later. You can't do that waiting tables," Flecther said.

Oppmann said no timeline has been determined on when the ban will be lifted, but starting a new semester gives the university a chance to correctly document a full semester's work.

Contact Mealand Ragland-Hudgins at 615-278-5189 or mragland@dnj.com. Follow her on Twitter @dnj_mrhudgins.